When sharpening the blades of knives, scissors or other working tools, the precise angle the edge to be sharpened contacts the grinding/honing surface determines the sharpness of the edge that the tool will have. Generally, the blade sharpening grinders are heavy stationary units that have at least one spinning, abrasive grinding wheel that the blade may be passed across to garner an edge. This is generally done by hand, but still requires an accurate and adjustable support with minimal deviation in holding the tool at the proper angular orientation while the blade contacts the grinding wheel.
The prior art devices are segmented linear arms that are slidingly attached at their distal end to a rail extending from the grinder that lies approximately parallel to the planar face of the grinding disks. There is an angularly adjustable and pivotable clamp affixed at one of its ends to the proximal end of the linear arm. The linear arm is hinged in its approximate center. Such as design is detailed in US. Pat. No. 5,941,763. This design allows for the user to alter the vertical and angular positioning of any bladed tools as it slides horizontally along the rail. The problem with the prior art devices is that while they allow the proper positioning of the clamped blade, their path of movement and range of motion is compromised and very limited. This is hard for novices to use as the repeated vertical path of motion is difficult to repeat. Additionally, the physical structure of the prior art forces each user to hold the moving segmented linear arm in the same way, regardless of their dexterity capabilities.
Thus, a more vertically controllable linear arm able to be held in a plethora of different ways is provided by the embodiments set forth below.